Vigilance pays off: Seven suspects remanded in custody

Caught after exchange of fire with police; two accomplices escape.

ISLAMABAD:

The capital police obtained a six-day physical remand for seven suspected terrorists from an anti-terrorism court on Saturday. The suspects had been arrested from the Tarlai area during a search operation late on Friday night.

According to senior police officials, the arrests were made after a police search party raided an under-construction house in Sodran village near Tarlai on a tip-off.

“The suspects fired at the police team when they reached the place,” said a police official. “The police were able to capture seven suspects after an exchange of fire.”

Two accomplices of the men present in the building managed to escape, said the investigation officer at the Koral Police Station.

The police, however, managed to seize five hand grenades, two 9mm pistols, ammunition and two motorcycles from the scene. No explosive material was found from the house, said the officer.

The seven suspects have been identified as Sajidullah, Ghulamullah, Muhammad Qasim, Inas Qayyum, Ehsanul Haq, Kashif Ishaq and Shah Hussain. The police have established that the two men who escaped are called Jahangir and Sabir.

Officials did not comment on the suspects’ affiliation.“We are carrying out investigations to determine more details about the suspects,” said one police official privy to the investigation. “It’s too early to link them with any militant outfit.”

Shah Hussain is from Waziristan, Sajidullah from Battagram, Ehsanul Haq is from Gulistan Colony, Rawalpindi, and the remaining suspects are believed to be from AJK and Murree.

The Islamabad Police have been vigilant about suspicious activities in the suburbs of the federal capital, especially in the light of recent air strikes against militant hideouts in the tribal areas.

The police are considering the possibility that there may be a backlash to the targeted military strikes, or an influx of militants towards the eastern parts of the country, including the twin cities.

Regardless of the current law and order situation in the country, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has expressed concern in the past over the lack of concrete information on people residing in rural areas on the outskirts of Islamabad, especially Bhara Kahu.

The police are currently involved in getting all landlords, property dealers and hotel managers to share details of any new or existing buyers, tenants and guests. The Islamabad Capital Territory administration also passed two magisterial orders recently, making it mandatory for property dealers and hotel managers to pass on such information to law enforcement agencies.

The police are aiming to use the information thus collected to build a database that can be crosschecked with existing criminal records data.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2014.